Massive drug overdose did not kill woman

Press, 18 June 1986, Page 7

Massive drug overdose did not kill woman

A massive overdose of an anti-coagulant drug surprisingly did not kill Mrs Alice Josephine Kennedy, aged 92, the Coroner found. He said she died of an acute heart failure due to gross atherosclerosis while in Christchurch Hospital.

Dr Evan Richard Everest, a house surgeon, said Mrs Kennedy was put on Heparin during her recovery from a hip operation. He was told by senior staff about 3.40 p.m. on November 23, 1985, that Mrs Kennedy’s Ivac pump had been turned off, and she had received the entire contents of a 1000 ml bag of intravenous fluid, containing the medication, in 40 minutes. Dr Everest said the door to the Ivac pump

was open when he arrived. Mrs Kennedy should have been receiving 6mls of Heparin an hour. She had received about 650m1s in 40 minutes.

She was given a 50mg dose of Protamine to neutralise the effects of Heparin, and another dose at 6.30 p.m. More Protamine was administered at 10 p.m.

Dr Everest said he was told the next day that Mrs Kennedy had died. He attributed the death to the sudden infusion of a large dose of Heparin.

He said a Metriset valve, if fitted to the equipment, could have prevented the flood of medication into Mrs Kennedy. One had originally been used, but he did not know

why one had not been used that afternoon or how the door to the Ivac pump had come to be open. He did not think Mrs Kennedy would have tampered with the equipment. Procedure involving the use of such equipment had since been tightened at the hospital. Detective Senior-Ser-geant Michael White said in a deposition that police inquiries found the pump door had been left open about 2.50 p.m. Two ward staff, untrained in the use of the Ivac pump, had disconnected it at that time to change Mrs Kennedy’s dressing gown, but both claimed it was properly connected again when they had finished. Detective Senior-Ser- . geant White said no-one else was found who could have altered the pump, and he concluded the two staff members must have accidentally been responsible. That issue, and the failure to fit a Metriset valve was an issue left to the hospital administration to deal with, he said. Dr Laurie Treadgold, a pathologist, said in a report that he could find no connection between the overdose and the cause of Mrs Kennedy’s death. TRUCK HIT CAR Beryl Mavis Lucas, aged 50, died from multiple traumatic injuries received after the car in which she was travelling was hit by a truck on Johns Road on November 11, the Coroner found. Constable Maurice William Edward Smith said that Graeme George Foster was driving a truck north on Johns Road, and went to turn down Sawyers Arms Road. He failed to observe the approach of a car driven by Mrs Lucas, travelling south on Johns Road. The truck hit the right side of the car. Constable Smith said Foster pleaded guilty in the Christchurch District Court to charges relating to the accident. CANCER Patrick Dougald Daly died while recovering from an operation to remove a cancer, although he appeared two hours earlier to be doing well, the Court was told. Mr Daly, aged 65, was admitted to St Georges Hospital on December 20 for surgery on a largebowel cancer. The surgeon, Mr Alan Maxwell Chirnside, said the post-operative period was uneventful until December 24, when Mr Daly was found collapsed beside his bed, although he had appeared to be making good progress earlier that day. He did not respond to cardio-pul-monary resuscitation. A pathologist’s report found Mr Daly died of a pulmonary embolism following the operation. The Coroner confirmed this to be the cause of death. SKELETON A skeleton found near the Styx River last August has not been identified, and the inquest had been adjourned from last month in the hope that further publicity would help provide the police with evidence. The Coroner ruled the skeleton belonged to an unknown person. The cause, place and time of death could not be established. CAR HIT POLE The driver of a car might haave fallen asleep or lost concentration just before an accident which killed Froukje Trijuntje van Kessel, aged 58, the court was told. Mrs van Kessel died in Christchurch Hospital on October 5, 1985, of multiple injuries received, the Coroner found. Constable Murray James Breeze said that

Mrs van Kessel’s husband, Mr Cornlls (Keith) van Kessel was driving the car which veered into a pole at Woodend. No charges had been laid against him. They had left Blenheim at 11 p.m., and reached Woodend about 4 a.m. on October 5. Mr van Kessel had shared the driving, said Constable Breeze. Mr Hector Francis Gavin Johnstone told the court he had been travelling behind the car which Mr van Kessel was driving. He saw the car slowly veer to the left and he thought it was going to stop. He then realised it was travelling too fast to stop, and it hit a lamp post at 50 to 60km/h. Mr van Kessel told the police he had travelled to Wellington to take part in the presentation to Parliament of the petition against the Homosexual Law Reform Bill. He had dozed in the car while not driving, and had slept for several hours during both crossings of Cook Strait. He could not remember if he had been driving at the time of the accident. He “woke up” in a house in Woodend and slowly realised he had been in an accident. He had not felt tired and did not think he had fallen asleep, but wondered if he had blacked out. He told the police he had blacked out while driving 30 years ago. BEACH BUGGY FLIPPED The death of a man after his beach buggy cart-wheeled emphasised the need for people to take the usual safety precautions even when travelling on seemingly safe surfaces at slow speeds, said the Coroner. He found that Mr Dennie Wayne Maxwell died at Christchurch Hospital on March 23 of severe head injuries received in the accident. A witness, Mr Murray John Dean, said he saw, a man in a go-kart driving along the estuary about 25km/h. The vehicle hit a ditch and cartwheeled over the driver who had been thrown forward. Mr Dean ran to help, but returned home to ring for an ambulance when he saw the extent of the driver’s injuries. When he returned a neighbour had arrived to attend to the man. He said bad luck had caused the accident. Speed was not a factor and the driver had not been taking risks. Constable Maurice William Edward Smith said Mr Maxwell had bought the home-made beach buggy for his amusement to use on the estuary’s mud flats. The beach buggy had hit a ditch caused by storm water running on to the estuary from a gutter. The accident happened about 4 p.m. Mr Maxwell had not been wearing head protection or a safety harness. A roll cage fitted to the beach buggy was only shoulder height and would not have protected the driver’s head if he had remained within the vehicle. The vehicle had no brakes and was not roadworthy. DROWNED Raymond Mayo, aged 41, died from asphyxia from drowning after the truck he was driving fell into a hole in the flooded Waimakariri River on December 23, the Coroner found. Stephen James Stuart Mitchell told the court Mr Mayo had driven a flat deck truck, with a frontend loader on the back, from Darfield to the Waimakariri River near Courtney. Mr Mitchell followed five minutes behind, and arrived at the flooded river about 2.20 p.m. The track into the river-bed was under 50cm of water.

He looked for Mr Mayo, and eventually saw the rear of his truck and the front-end loader protruding from a hole at the 'side of the track. Mr Mitchell tied a rope to his vehicle and swam down to the cab of the submerged truck. It took five attempts before he found the cab. The window was down and he felt inside the cab before being overcome by diesel fuel and water. He could not find Mr Mayo. He then notified the police. He said the river was not flooded when he had been there the day before. He said he would not have sent Mr Mayo there if he had known the river was in flood. Constable Robin Fraser Cocks said the water in . the hole was 6m deep. A team of police divers ’.found Mr Mayo’s body ■ about 6.30 p.m. It was five metres away from the .'truck, and tangled in a rope that had been in the :. cab of the truck. OVERDOSE , Mark Maurice McGrath, aged 25, died of an over- . dose of the drug doloxene on November 7, 1985, the Coroner found. Dr Kevin J. O’Connor told the court he had been . treating Mr McGrath for 18 months. When he first saw him he was addicted to doloxene. He believed Mr McGrath was taking 20 to 30 tablets a day, and so . reduced the dosage to six a day. Dr O’Connor said , he later found out that Mr McGrath had “conned” ..other doctors into giving him doloxene and was

using drugs off the street. Constable Bennie said that Mr McGrath’s girl friend had told the police he had complained his legs had felt strange. He had laid on a couch and gone to sleep. She heard him snoring at 5 a.m. the next day, but found him cold and stiff when she went to wake him at 10 a.m. DIED AT HOME Brian David Findlay, aged 45, died of an overdose of the drug Haloperidol at his home on November 7, 1985, the Coroner found. Constable Cocks said that Mr Findlay had argued with his wife the previous evening and she had left the house. Mr Findlay was found dead the next day. SUICIDES The Coroner recorded verdicts of suicide in the cases of: Carl Lyndon Snippe, aged 21; Julia Catherine Watson, aged 39; Robert Archibald McAdam, aged 77; Kevin Francis Bayliss, aged 30; William Raymond Lowery, aged 70; and James Barclay Curline, aged 51.